January 2017It's time to reflect, I suppose. 2016 was one hell of a ride... Allie and I had a pretty good year, a great year actually, we got to travel quite a bit again, we grew our businesses, we grew together, we strengthened connections, we made new connections, and we bought a house... just in the knick of time to say it happened in 2016. We had said last year that we wanted to buy a house and began looking and weren't coming up with anything worthwhile, until we found where we eventually landed. The last few months have been a trying time for both of us... we commited to this place no matter what, so we moved out of our apartment in Ocean City that we lived in for years and stayed in our (now neighbors) loving friends tiny free standing apartment for what we thought would be 2 weeks or so. We were mistaken about that time frame. Long story short, we lived out of backpacks, our cars, and the studio for about 3 months which was, to say the least, a pain in the ass. At the end of the day, (metaphorically speaking) it was all great though, I love that shit. The 'struggle' or whatever you want to call it. Yvon Chouinard once said something to the effect of "if you compromise the process, you're an asshole when you start out and you're an asshole when you get back". That quote really resonated with me for some reason, probably something to do with his brash whipper snapper mentality and the fact that it's true. I love to do things that are often kind of hard but there is a mental or physical gain from it. I like to climb, do yoga, snowboard, learn, work, and build. In all of that there is a 'process' for sure, or as my friend Travis likes to often say "chop wood, carry water". I'm rambling, I should probably write more often to keep in check. At any rate, we have a home, and it's already a 'home' not a house, which I'm not surpised in all honestly, both Allie and I don't really mess around when it comes to getting shit done quick haha (ie: opening multiple studios in about a week, on a whim going to Kenya/Alaska/London, etc.). So we have a roof over our head, and it will take time to get where it should be, but until then it's perfect as it is, and we're grateful. I also decided that instead of twiddling my thumbs this year during the Winter months I'm going to take on more of a role at the studio (it won't only be during the Winter). I'll be helping with the managing team of all four studios, and with that will go back to Kenya in a few months to get my 200 hour cert for teaching with Paige Elenson. So I'm pretty excited about that, Paige is awesome, and it'll be amazing to see our Kenyan friends sooner than later. This comes back to that mental 'process', I'm not a huge 'share-er', so this is going to be an awakening and an opening I hope. Plus I'll be able to help out better with the studio opposed to just assisting classes and helping with brainstorming and execution of those ideas. So, it'll be good all around. I guess I'll pause there, and think more later. 2017 is already full of excitement, fear, and hapiness. PS The two photos are two times this year (while browsing my site) that really stand out to me that I have a like a visceral feeling of viewing them. The top: Allie and I had some serious jet lag after coming back from Kenya, and these early mornings in early February were just something else. The Bottom: On a whim I went to see Girls Against Boys in Brooklyn with Dan and Keith, and it was ridiculous. For a few reasons: they were crazy good, and made me listen to all of their music again for about 2 weeks straight afterwards. And just the idea of going up to Brooklyn for the night to see a show, shoot photos, get good food, and hang with friends is just really awesome. I'm not sure why this night is so vivid in my mind, it's not the first time I've done something like this, but it just is... weird. Until next time. #theramblingsofamadman. |
Ray NunziSouth Jersey based photographer. Mostly consisting of lifestyle, wedding, and music photography. Archives
January 2017
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